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The 2010 NFL Draft class products Sanders and Cooper compare well to each other in some areas, enough to think Cooper's 5-year, $25 million ($8 million guaranteed) could be a good starting point for the pending Steelers free agent.

The Philadelphia Eagles signed pending free agent Riley Cooper to a 5-year, $25 million extension Friday, with $8 million guaranteed.

While Cooper had 17.8 yards per catch this past season with the Eagles, Steelers WR Emmanuel Sanders has more career catches (114-93) despite having missed six games over his first two seasons. Clearly two different kinds of receivers, the 6-foot-3 Cooper is a large-bodied target who's eight touchdowns in 2013 dwarf Sanders' career total of five.

That level of deal, though, is likely around the mark Sanders could expect on the open market. It could be a bit higher, given there will be a market that isn't exclusive to one team the way Riley's deal was brokered, but they are similar enough statistically it's a good bet his new deal will be used as a comparable.

Both receivers are products of the 2010 NFL Draft, with Sanders going to Pittsburgh in the third round and Cooper going in the fifth round to the Eagles.

The same could be said for Green Bay's James Jones, who's also a part of a rich wide receivers class in free agency. Older than both Sanders and Cooper, Jones' career numbers, on average, are similar to both players, except for a curve-breaking 14 touchdowns in 2012.

Generally speaking, the availability of all these receivers could lead to a lessened value should they reach free agency as well. Jones' age, Sanders' injury history and other flaws could drive the price down and saturate the market if they are all allowed to leave their 2013 teams unsigned.

Its a good year to need a WR in the draft. There isn't any reason to re-sign Sanders, who has only proven to be competent. Cotchery is compentant too. And cheaper. Draft a talented 1st or 2nd Round WR, let Wheaton develop & play Cotchery. The WR's won't be any worse as a result.

Its a good year to need a WR in the draft. There isn't any reason to re-sign Sanders, who has only proven to be competent. Cotchery is compentant too. And cheaper. Draft a talented 1st or 2nd Round WR, let Wheaton develop & play Cotchery. The WR's won't be any worse as a result.

Nice to hear from ya Chadman. Honestly, I think your view is the concensus here, despite the many needs the D has. AB is great, but I'd love to have a special WR to lineup with him and keep everyone honest. This only creates more room for Bell as well.

Nice to hear from ya Chadman. Honestly, I think your view is the concensus here, despite the many needs the D has. AB is great, but I'd love to have a special WR to lineup with him and keep everyone honest. This only creates more room for Bell as well.

Thank you Jooser. Rough start to the year, so been away from here unfortunately. It's the Offenses turn in the draft in Round 1- go back & check the Tomlin/Colbert 1st round selections. It's always Def/Off/Def/Off....it's Off this year after Jones was drafted last year.

We’ve come to our final free agent for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Emmanuel Sanders tested the waters slightly last offseason as a restricted free agent but will become an unrestricted free agent on March 11th.

Emmanuel Sanders was drafted by the Steelers in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft out of SMU. In college he played alongside his future Steelers teammate, Kelvin Beachum. Sanders was used pretty sparingly early on as he was fairly low on the WR depth chart but has accumulated a respectable 2,030 receiving yards with a 12.6 average and 11 touchdowns in his four-year NFL career so far.

Last year the New England Patriots signed Sanders to a one-year $2.5 million dollar contract as a restricted free agent. The Steelers would have gotten an additional 3rd round draft pick as compensation but opted to retain Sanders instead and matched the Patriots’ offer. In return, Sanders started opposite Antonio Brown as the No. 2 wide receiver on the team and put up career-highs in receptions, yards, and touchdowns. Steelers GM Kevin Colbert has already acknowledged that Sanders will be able to test free agency and won’t necessarily be one of the free agents the Steelers try to re-sign before March 11th.

“Emmanuel came back and had a nice year for us, and we were happy to have him, and where he goes in free agency and what his market is we don’t know at this point, but he certainly performed for us last year, and we’ll see where it is in the future.” – Kevin Colbert

With the fact that Sanders is definitely going to draw interest from other teams with much more spending money than the Steelers plus Markus Wheaton all ready to hopefully have an injury-free second year this might be the end of the road for Sanders in Pittsburgh. Doesn’t mean he doesn’t necessarily want to stay here or that the Steelers wouldn’t want him back, it’s just an instance of things not working out sometimes. The Steelers most likely won’t be able or willing to pay the contract Sanders would be looking for, in which case they’re already in good position to replace Sanders with Wheaton and add additional wide receivers in the draft.

Looking for a sidekick to Megatron, the experienced Sanders makes sense, even if the Lions do have the possibility of landing a talented receiver with the 10th overall pick.

Call him Starscream.

Steelers pending free agent wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders is being mentioned as a possible target of the Detroit Lions, looking to be the ever-elusive second wide receiver Calvin Johnson, nicknamed "Megatron."

Sanders makes sense for Detroit, a team that has has a top 10 pick and has been linked to Texas A&M WR Mike Evans with that pick. Trading up for a shot at Clemson WR Sammy Watkins is also a possibility in Detroit.

Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew is also a free agent, and the team will have to adjust to the huge contracts of Johnson, quarterback Matthew Stafford and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.

Sanders certainly won't command Johnson-like numbers, but could be a decent sidekick for the Lions. He played a pretty good No. 2 role for the Steelers over the past two seasons.

Looking for a sidekick to Megatron, the experienced Sanders makes sense, even if the Lions do have the possibility of landing a talented receiver with the 10th overall pick.

Call him Starscream.

Steelers pending free agent wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders is being mentioned as a possible target of the Detroit Lions, looking to be the ever-elusive second wide receiver Calvin Johnson, nicknamed "Megatron."

Sanders makes sense for Detroit, a team that has has a top 10 pick and has been linked to Texas A&M WR Mike Evans with that pick. Trading up for a shot at Clemson WR Sammy Watkins is also a possibility in Detroit.

Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew is also a free agent, and the team will have to adjust to the huge contracts of Johnson, quarterback Matthew Stafford and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh.

Sanders certainly won't command Johnson-like numbers, but could be a decent sidekick for the Lions. He played a pretty good No. 2 role for the Steelers over the past two seasons.

Thank you Jooser. Rough start to the year, so been away from here unfortunately. It's the Offenses turn in the draft in Round 1- go back & check the Tomlin/Colbert 1st round selections. It's always Def/Off/Def/Off....it's Off this year after Jones was drafted last year.

I know that has been the pattern, but I find it hard to believe they would basically eliminate half the draft (offense vs defense) just so they can stick to this rotation. I would think it has to be coincidence. Has Colbert come out and said anything on this?